Department for Education

Schools: Buildings

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a detailed timeline of decisions made relating to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools over the last five years.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the reasons for which risks associated with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools did not become apparent before August 2023.

Nick Gibb: Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff, and it has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken. The Department knows how important it is for young people to be in classrooms with their friends and teachers, but their safety must come first.The Department has been talking to schools about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018 when it first published a warning note with the Local Government Association. The Office of Government Property wrote to all Government Property Leaders in 2019, and again in September 2022, highlighting safety alerts on RAAC and signposting guidance on identification and remediation. The Government also created a cross-Government working group on RAAC this year to collectively address the issue. Since then, Departments have been surveying properties and depending on the assessment of the RAAC, decided to either continue or monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it. This is in line with the approach recommended by the Institution of Structural Engineers.The Department discovered details of three new cases over the summer, where RAAC that would have been graded as non-critical had failed. The first of these was in a commercial setting. The second was in a school in a different educational jurisdiction. It was right to carefully consider the cases and scrutinise the technical details from these. Departmental technical officials were able to investigate the situation in one case where the plank that had failed was fully intact as it was resting on a steel beam after it failed. They concluded that it would previously been rated non-critical. Ministers were carefully considering the first two cases and advice from officials when a third failure of a panel occurred, at a school in late August. The Department’s technical officials also visited this school to investigate the failure.In light of all three cases, it was right to make the difficult decision to change our guidance for education settings and take a more cautious approach within the education estate in England.Following careful analysis of these recent cases, a precautionary and proactive step has been taken to change the approach to RAAC in education settings ahead of the start of the academic year, as outlined in our guidance.Maintained nursery schools are treated the same as schools and FE colleges. In 2022, the Department’s questionnaire to all responsible bodies, including those who run maintained nursery schools, asked them to provide information on RAAC.

Cybercrime: Educational Institutions

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of ransomware attacks on (a) schools and (b) other educational settings in each local authority in each of the last three years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to schools of ransomware attacks in each of the last three years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a table of the number of schools in England reporting serious cyber incidents in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold a comprehensive list of ransomware attacks on schools or colleges in each Local Authority in each of the last three years.It is the responsibility of academy trusts to be aware of the risk of cybercrime, put in place proportionate controls and take appropriate action where a cyber security incident has occurred. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) supports the National Crime Agency’s recommendation not to encourage, endorse, or condone the payment of ransom demands.To support schools, the Department released Cyber Security Standards in October 2022. These standards provide a base level requirement for good cyber security practices in schools, helping to raise resilience across the sector and make schools harder targets. Many of the areas suggested for improvement are low cost or free to implement.Additionally, the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Security for Schools web page provides practical resources, including training and guidance, on how schools can avoid cyber security threats. The web page can be found here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/education-skills/cyber-security-schools.

Schools: Buildings

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on providing funding additional to her Department's capital budget to support the implementation of the guidance on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in education settings, published on 31 August 2023.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of mitigating against the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete across the entire school estate.

Nick Gibb: It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that poses an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.Ministers and officials have regular discussions with colleagues from HM Treasury.The Government has committed to spend whatever it takes to keep children safe. The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will cover all reasonable requests.The Department will then also fund refurbishment or rebuilding projects, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term. Schools and colleges will either be offered capital grants to fund refurbishment work to permanently remove RAAC, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, including through the School Rebuilding Programme. The Department will set out further details for affected schools and colleges in due course.The cost of the work needed at each school with RAAC will vary depending on the extent of the issue and the nature of the buildings. The Department is working closely with affected schools and colleges to understand and support their needs. The Department has also assigned a dedicated caseworker to each school and college affected, who will work with them to assess their particular needs and implement individually designed mitigation plans.More broadly, the Department has continued to invest in improving the condition of schools and colleges, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial year. On top of this, the Department is transforming 500 schools through the School Rebuilding Programme. A total of 400 schools have been confirmed, with 100 places reserved for later in the programme. Buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues have been prioritised, including some now known to contain RAAC. The Department is committed to the projects that have already been announced as being rebuilt or refurbished through the School Rebuilding Programme.The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of pupils and staff in schools and colleges at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than the devolved administrations in the UK, or indeed, governments overseas.

Health: Disadvantaged

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to address health inequality through schools.

Nick Gibb: Schools play a key role in tackling health inequalities through providing a good education and pastoral support.Attainment is key to supporting better long term outcomes. Therefore, closing attainment gaps plays a vital role in addressing health inequality through schools. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, almost £5 billion has been made available for an ambitious, multi year education recovery plan to support young children and pupils in early years, schools and colleges. This support is especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged pupils. Additionally, the National Funding Formula (NFF) targets funding to schools that have the greatest numbers of pupils with additional needs. In 2023/24, a greater proportion of schools NFF funding was targeted towards deprived pupils than ever before, with 9.8% (over £4 billion) of the formula being allocated according to deprivation in 2023/24. In 2023/24, schools with the highest levels of deprivation have, on average, attracted the largest per pupil funding increases. On top of this core funding, the Pupil Premium, worth over £2.9 billion this year, continues to support schools to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.The Department is supporting schools to improve outcomes for vulnerable pupils. Every Local Authority in England must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care. Looked after children receive Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,530 per child up to age 16, which is managed by the Virtual School Head, to work with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in their individual Personal Education Plans. In June 2021, the Department extended the role of Virtual School Heads to include strategic responsibility for all children with a social worker.The Department also launched the period product scheme in 2020. The scheme aims to help break the stigma surrounding menstruation, providing free period products to schools and colleges so that no pupil has to miss out on education because of their period.In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the Department committed to working together with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning. The Department has established a steering group to oversee this work, which recently reported to the National SEND and AP Implementation Board.Schools can play a role in preventing health inequalities through what is taught and by providing safe, calm and supportive environments for pupils. The Department has made health education compulsory in all schools, so that all pupils are taught about healthy lifestyles and are given the information that they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing. The Department has also offered state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, to help support whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. Over 13,800 schools & colleges have received a grant so far, including more than 7 in 10 state funded secondary schools in England.The Government spends over £1 billion each year on free school meals and Universal Infant Free School Meals, with more than one third of all children receive a free lunchtime meal. Around 90,000 disadvantaged students in further education also receive a free meal. The Department is funding up to £30 million into the National School Breakfast Programme until the end of the summer term in 2024. In addition, the Department has expanded the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children. The programme is continuing this year with over £200 million provided.

Schools: Buildings

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) schools and (b) colleges which had taken remedial action on RAAC before last week will be included in the funding announced for schools required to fix unsafe RAAC.

Nick Gibb: It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware a building may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.The Department will spend whatever it takes to keep children safe. The Department will work with the relevant responsible body, which will depend on the type of school or college with confirmed RAAC. The Department’s immediate support will be managed from unallocated departmental budgets. This will not have an impact on existing programmes.The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term. Schools and colleges will either be offered capital grants to fund refurbishment work to permanently remove RAAC, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, including through the School Rebuilding Programme. The Department will set out further details for affected schools and colleges in due course.Responsible bodies for schools and colleges with confirmed RAAC that have already taken remedial action should discuss their expenditure with their RAAC caseworker.​The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in education settings at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than the devolved administrations in the UK, or indeed, governments overseas.